Was a crime committed? Nashua police are not certain

By KIMBERLY HOUGHTONUnion Leader CorrespondentMarch 12. 2014 10:07PMNASHUA — Three men have been taken into custody following a possible armed home invasion Wednesday afternoon that led to the lockdown of two city schools.

Authorities said they are still trying to determine whether any actual home invasion took place and are in the process of questioning the men who may have been involved.

Around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, the police department received a call reporting a possible home invasion in progress at 19 Manchester St.

“We had information about three subjects, and two of them were armed with guns being described as possibly a rifle and a handgun,” said Lt. Denis Linehan of the Nashua Police Department.As officers responded to the area, one of the men was observed running from the rear of the residence.

“A foot pursuit ensued, and we were able to apprehend one subject,” said Linehan. Authorities received information that the other two individuals may have been hiding at a residence on Concord Street, so additional patrolmen were sent to that location, he said.

Upon further investigation, however, Linehan said police determined the other two men were actually still at an apartment at 19 Manchester St.

One of those men was taken into custody due to a pending narcotics warrant, and the second man is cooperating with police, according to Linehan, who would not provide the names of the three men involved.

“Basically, it is still early in the investigation, and detectives are talking to people to determine if a home invasion took place. As of now, it does not appear that a home invasion happened, but it does appear that some guns were seen by at least one resident at 19 Manchester St.,” he said.

There may have been some confusion by the caller, since there are several apartments within the building on Manchester Street, and police believe at least one of the three men is a resident of that apartment complex, according to Linehan.

As of Wednesday evening, no firearms were recovered by police, who were in the process of seeking one or two search warrants.

At least one of the men will be charged with resisting arrest since he allegedly fled from police when they arrived on the scene, he said.

“We are still trying to piece together if we actually had any felony incident — or any incident,” said Linehan.

The apartment building was not evacuated, however several streets were closed for up to an hour while authorities investigated.

In addition, Mount Pleasant Elementary School and St. Christopher School were placed into lockdown for less than an hour during the height of the incident. The lockdown, according to Linehan, was only a precaution.

Two other schools — Nashua Catholic Regional Junior High School and Pennichuck Middle School — were notified to temporarily stall their buses until the situation was under control.With information that two of the men were armed, coupled with the suspicious nature of one of the men running from police, Linehan said authorities wanted to be cautious.